Fantina
Fantina (Japanese: メリッサ Melissa) is the Gym Leader of Hearthome City's Gym, known officially as the Hearthome Gym. She hands out the Relic Badge to Trainers who defeat her. She specializes in Ghost-type Pokémon. She is apparently not from the country the games are set in, and often peppers her speech with phrases of French (English in the Japanese and French versions). History Despite the group having traveled through Hearthome City twice, once in Dawn's Early Night and a second time in Arriving in Style!, the Hearthome Gymremained closed with the Gym Leader nowhere in sight. Fantina had left a note saying that she was going on a journey for a while, and to not look for her. Apparently she was developing a whole new battle style. She finally appeared in Playing The Leveling Field! where she battled and defeated Ash and Zoey. She had a tendency to break into dance regularly, occasionally interspersing French phrases in as well, such as "s'il vous plaît". It was also revealed that she battled Alan twice with him winning the second time. It was revealed in Aiding the Enemy! that Paul also managed to defeat her. Ash met with Fantina upon returning to Hearthome City in Barry's Busting Out All Over! and battled her again in Shield with a Twist!, where he defeated her and earned the Relic Badge. In Gotta Get a Gible!, it was revealed that Fantina has once again left her Gym, so Barry had to take a number in order to battle her when she came back. Fantina appeared from Last Call — First Round! to A Grand Fight for Winning!, having yet again left the Gym in order to be a guest judge for the Sinnoh Grand Festival. She reappeared in a flashback in DP120. Pokemon # Misdreavus → Mismagius # Egg → Drifloon → Drifblim # Gengar # Duskull # Banette # Dusknoir # Spiritomb # Rotom # Jellicent # Giratina Trivia * During the Gym battle in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Fantina exclaims "Never give up, never surrender!", the catchphrase from the 1999 science fiction comedy Galaxy Quest. * In the Japanese and French versions she speaks English, while in the Danish, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish versions she has a noticeable French accent. * Although Fantina's dress incorporates elements of Drifblim, she does not use a Drifblim in the Gym match in Pokémon Platinum. * In the anime, Ash intended to battle Fantina and win the Relic Badge on his first visit to Hearthome City, as his third Badge. While this would have meant that he went out of order compared to Diamond and Pearl, this is the correct order in Platinum, which came out shortly before Ash finally battled her for the Relic Badge (as his fifth). * If Brock, Misty, Cilan, and Clemont — all of whom are Ash's travelling companions — aren't counted, the Gym Leaders to appear in most episodes of the anime are Fantina, Clair and Korrina, having appeared in seven episodes each. Roark takes second place, with six episodes. * Fantina is one of two Gym Leaders known to have their origins outside the Pokémon nation. However, it is not confirmed where Fantina is from except her home country uses French as the national language. The other is Lt. Surge, who is from the United States. * Fantina is similar to Juan in that both speak French (Juan does so in the original Japanese version and Chuang Yi's English translation of Pokémon Adventures), and both are Coordinators and Gym Leaders. Juan appeared in a flashback in the episode Fantina debuted in. * In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Fantina uses an Origin Forme Giratina without a Griseous Orb in the The Battle Between Legendary Pokémon. Category:Pokemon Universe Category:Gym Leaders Category:Champions Category:Humans Category:Sinnoh Region Category:Pokemon Coordinator Category:Boss Battle Category:Black People Category:Immigrants Category:Female